Elevated link to ease Dhaula Kuan jams

NEW DELHI: There's hope to ease Dhaula Kuan's incessant traffic jams. In an effort to decongest the Ring Road, the government is assessing the looking at viability of an elevated road which will cut through the Ridge area and connect the Ring Road near Brar Square to Dev Prakash Shastri Marg near Todapur village. The 5km long elevated road will bypass the busy traffic bound roads of Dhaula Kuan and Raja Garden, and provide alternative access from Dhaula Kuan to central Delhi.

If the proposal, which has come in from the Delhi traffic police, is implemented, it could cut down travel time by around a substantial 30 minutes. Anil Shukla, additional CP (traffic), said, "The corridor will provide additional connectivity to west Delhi and Dwarka as well as reduce the traffic congestion on the Ring Road. It will impact the traffic on Sardar Patel Marg, Upper Ridge Road, Naraina Loha Mandi Road and Patel Road."

According to Shukla, the elevated road, which will start from the road in Brar Square in Delhi cantonment area, and connect to Dev Prakash Shastri Marg in Todapur village, will be around 5km long and decongest the Ring Road area substantially.

"The potential is immense. At present, traffic that is not bound for west Delhi or Dwarka still take this road since it leads to NH-8, IGI, Dwarka and surrounding areas. All this will be cleared if the elevated road comes up," added Shukla.

The road, which will go through defence land, is expected to decongest vehicular traffic on the NH-8 and Sardar Patel Marg as well as streamline the traffic bound for the T1 and T3 terminals of the IGI Airport, according to the Delhi traffic police's proposal.

This is besides easing the Dwarka traffic, and even the Station Road, since traffic from Janakpuri and Lajwanti areas would take the proposed elevated route for central Delhi, the proposal goes on to say. The reduction in travel distance is marked at approximately 10km in the proposal, which has now been sent to the UTTIPEC, the umbrella transport planning body, for approval.

Senior government officials said that the proposal was being studied carefully. "The only obstacle that could come in the way is the defence land, which would be difficult to acquire. If that is cleared up satisfactorily, the elevated road could be an alternative route to decongest the Dhaula Kuan crossing," an official said.

According to officials in the public works department (PWD), the department has already started work on a survey to look into the viability of the elevated road. "Once the survey comes in, a decision can be taken," added the official.

Source: http://to.ly/maTM